Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Chinese
police chief is alleged to have had at least 192 houses and a fake
identity card, state media said Tuesday, the latest in a number of
similar cases that have sparked outrage online.
Zhao Haibin, a
senior police official in Lufeng in the southern province of Guangdong,
was reported by a businessman to have accumulated the properties under
his name and his company's, the Guangzhou Daily said. The businessman,
Huang Kunyi -- who was involved in a dispute with the officer -- also
said Zhao used a fake identity card to record a different name on
company documents, the newspaper reported.
Authorities cancelled
the false card after Huang's report in 2011, it added. An official of
the Communist Party's discipline department for Lufeng told AFP Tuesday
that Zhao -- who is also the vice party secretary of a local county --
had been investigated but the inquiry was over and he retained his
public offices.
According to the newspaper, Zhao said the
properties were owned by his younger brother, a businessman, and that he
was only "managing" them for him. A separate report said Zhao or the
company had 192 properties in the city of Huizhou, also in Guangdong,
and others in the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai.
The case is the
latest of a series of reports involving officials owning multiple houses
with different identity cards and residence permits. Gong Aiai, a vice
president of a bank in the northern province of Shaanxi and a delegate
to the local legislature, was reported last month to hold more than 20
houses worth nearly one billion yuan ($160 million), using four
different residence permits and three identity cards. She was detained
by police Monday on suspicion of "forging official documents and
stamps", the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The cases have
sparked mounting criticism in Chinese social media over rampant graft
and high home prices that are running out of reach of the average
citizen. "(I) finally realised that in China, properties are forever in
the hands of a tiny number of people," said a user of China's
Twitter-like Sina Weibo

The Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI) has discovered pre-historic caves with rock
paintings dating back to 12,000 years on the Satpura mountain range near
Betul on the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh border.
A team of
archaeologists, carrying out explorations on the Satpura ranges in
Gawilgarh Hills in the border township of the Tapti-Purna valley
stumbled on these ancient paintings, dispelling the myth that Vidarbha
and its neighbouring region is bereft of such artistic treasures from
our past.
About 71 new rock shelters harbouring paintings and engravings have
been found at the site, which may give a tough competition to the World
Heritage site of Bhimbetka near Bhopal, ASI officials said.
The decorated rock shelters were discovered by a joint team of ASI's
Nagpur-based Pre-history and Excavation Branch-I during the ongoing
exploration and documentation work in remote parts of Satpura range.
Besides, the ASI team camping at village Chincholi Gawli, about 25
kilometres from Morshi in Amravati district (Vidarbha region) has also
discovered more than 200 un-decorated rock shelters.
Since last week of December 2012, the team has so far discovered 89 rock shelters.
"The assiduous work done by team members amidst arduous terrains has
led to fascinating discoveries," Nandini Bhattacharya Sahu,
Superintendent Archaeologist, Prehistory Branch, (Nagpur) and leader of
the exploration team said.
She said the rock shelters carry decorations on walls, ceilings and floors.
Decors comprise petroglyph's in various forms, such as engravings,
bruising, pecking and pictographs in various colours, viz red, various
shades of red, white, black and green.
The pictographs or paintings usually illustrate human, animal, bird,
tree and abstract geometric figures and are depicted by stick figures,
outlines, solid and X-ray figures.
The engravings usually exhibit elements of natural world as well as abstract themes.
The decorated shelters are spread in an area of approximately 40 square kilometres, Sahu said.
Sahu said paintings in these shelters are pre-historic, chalcolithic
as well as historical in nature, varying in time frame from the
beginning of the Quaternary period to the recent past.
Though it is premature to comment on the exact chronology of the art
in these shelters, going by the enormous studies done and stylistic
similarities with the other Central Indian rock art, these rock arts can
be deemed to be belonging to the time bracket of the Upper
Palaeolithic, through Mesolithic and Chalcolithic to the historical
times.Also painted in at least two shelters are writings in the
Shankhalipi.
Commonly, the earliest of these may be loosely stated to be approximately 12,000 years old, she said.
Her expert team included Gajanan Katade, N K Nimje, Dr K M Girhe,
Indira Tiwari, Ekta Dharkar, Dr Vijay Gedam, P S Pashine, R D Deshpande,
M S Kadhao, T B Thapa, Kapil Chutele from Prehistory Branch and Dr
Prabash Sahu, Dr Rajesh Mehar, Manohar Kambe, M G Dahake, Kartik
Mudaliar, Mehtab Alam from the Excavation Branch.
She said human vandalism was noticed at many places while visiting
some of the shelters. If not checked in time, it may lead to rapid
decadence of the site.The vandalism was pointed out by the ASI team
leader to the District Magistrate, Chandra Shekhar and Superintendent of
Police, Betul (MP), during their visit to the camp.

Kolkata, February 5: Veteran Golfer Smriti Mehra finished on top after the first round of the second leg of the Hero WPGT 2013 as she moved two points clear of Vani Kapoor here at the Tollygunge Golf Club. Smriti, who topped the Hero Order of Merit in 2012 has four birdies and just one bogey in her score of three under 67.

Smriti had her only bogey on the third, but from thereon she didn't look back as she carded birdies at the 5th, 12th, 15th and 18th.

Vani Kapoor got off to a shaky start and had a double bogey on the third, however she steadied herself and played some solid golf to give Smriti a run for her money. Her bogey at the 18th hole cost her the joint top slot. She finished at one under 69.

Winner of the first leg and local girl Neha Tripathi, with two birdies finished third with a score of par 70. Sharmila Nicollet, the lone Indian at the Ladies European tour and making a comeback after an injury finished fourth with 73.

Vandana Agarwal ended the day at the fifth position with 74 and Rani Sonti was sixth with 76.

IndiaⳠCall to Action: Child Survival and Development Summit7-9th February 2013, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI, February 4, 2013 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) today announced the upcoming National Summit on メll to Action for Child Survival and Development䬠scheduled to be held in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu from February 7-9, 2013. Organized in partnership with UNICEF and USAID, the Summit is a critical platform that will strategically engage over 200 delegates including, nearly 60 national and international experts, key policy makers, planners and implementers from the health sector representing all states of India, representatives and heads of UN and development agencies, global health experts and practitioners, Civil society members and private sector, to discuss and debate on Child Survival and Development in India. The Summit will be an opportunity for sharing experiences and challenges; celebrate successes in maternal, newborn, child survival & development programmes; and pledge to meet IndiaⳠchild survival and development goals.

India co-convened the ᇬobal Child Survival Call to Action: A Promise to Keep⊓ummit in Washington DC in June 2012, along with Ethiopia and the United States of America. The Call to Action: For Every Child in India follows from Hon⢬e Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam Nabi AzadⳊcommitment to the global audience that India shall remain in the forefront in the global war against child mortality and morbidity.

With a large birth cohort of about 26 million and 158 million children in the age-group of 0-5 years, India accounts for the largest number of Under Five deaths - nearly 1.5 million, of which close to 0.8 million die within 28 days of birth. Nevertheless, steady progress in curbing child deaths has been demonstrated. The rate of decline in U5MR[[1]U5MR- Under 5 Mortality Rate1] has been much faster than the global average: from 115 in 1990 to 59 in 2010 as against the global average of 87 and 57 respectively. The U5MR, Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and Total Fertility Rate (TFR) have improved significantly to 59[[i]Sample Registration System (SRS) 2010, Registrar General of Indiai] per 1000 live births, 212[[ii]SRS 2007-09ii] per 100,000 live births and 2.5[iii] respectively.

ㄵring 2005-10, IndiaⳠdecline in Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) has accelerated to an average of 7.5% each year. Even though the average Under Five child mortality rate has always been lower in urban areas, the rate of decline in rural areas has been much faster. The rural-urban gap in child mortality has narrowed, thus reflecting improved equity in health care,䠳aid Smt. Anuradha Gupta Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission.

Addressing the media, Mr. William Hammink, Mission Director for the U.S. Agency for International Development in India, said, "The upcoming summit demonstrates India's leadership and commitment to both the global community and the children of India. India has an opportunity to make great gains on child survival with increased commitment and funding for the most effective life-saving practices. Moreover, IndiaⳠunique culture of social entrepreneurship, innovation, and technological advances present a historic opportunity to accelerate progress in reducing childhood illness and death. The U.S. Government is proud to be a part of this initiative, and we look forward to working with the Government of India as it addresses crucial child survival issues."

Mr. Louis-Georges Arsenault, Representative UNICEF India emphasized on the need for a holistic approach to end preventable child deaths. 㗥 require a comprehensive approach that includes not only increasing coverage of key child survival interventions, but also the related social determinants such as girls⊥ducation, maternal (under-)nutrition and environmental determinants. Child mortality rates are consistently lower among children living in families who access safe drinking water, an improved toilet and practice handwashing with soap. As we move towards 2015 and beyond, a renewed focus on empowering women and promoting equity in access to health services will also help guide actions for child survival."

A roadmap, entitled a ᓴrategic Approach to Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child and Adolescent Health⠨RMNCH+A) will also be launched at the Summit along with other pertinent guidelines and documents, aimed at accelerating reductions in preventable child deaths through sharper national plans and improved monitoring and evaluation.

The Global Call to Action for Child Survival: A Promise Renewed challenges countries to lower their national rates of child mortality to 20 or fewer deaths per 1,000 live births by 2035. Since June 2012, over 165 countries, hundreds of civil society organizations, private sector companies and faith-based leaders have since pledged to redouble efforts to combat child survival and improve maternal health (MDGs 4 and 5) and to focus on reaching the most disadvantaged and hardest to reach children in every country. A Promise Renewed is one of the central pillars supporting the implementation of the United Nations Secretary-GeneralⳠ2010 global strategy to improve women and children health called Every Woman, Every Child.http://apromiserenewed.org